Sister's Challenge
by Saiyan Jedi
Summary: Now that Bakura has his own body, Ryou's beatings are increasing. Who will stand up for him, if anyone? My sister challenged me to do this fic.


Saiyan Jedi: **pouting**

Dragon Child: your problem is…

Saiyan Jedi: there's a REASON I don't have a beta!

Dragon Child: ?

Kageka: Your sister challenged her. She's heard a ton of authors grumble about beta challenges, which is why she doesn't have a beta. I'll state what the challenge that your sister gave is at the end, because if I say it here, it'll ruin the ending.

Dragon Child: That little twerp is pure evil.

Kageka: your sister or our chibi side?

Dragon Child: my sister. I'm actually on SJ's side for this. Yay SJ! You can do it!

Saiyan Jedi: we don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or Hero by Superchick. A few more things, this is one shot, unless I get at least ten people asking me to continue with it, and it's not a song-fic, but it does have the song in it.

* * *

* * *

"Ow." Ryou said, gingerly cleaning a cut on his arm, inflicted by his yami. Ever since Bakura had gotten his own body, he was treating Ryou even worse than ever before. Ryou, as a result, had started avoiding his friends more and more. He didn't want to worry them. Currently he was locked in his room, while Bakura went to a strip club with Marik.

Ryou glanced at his nightstand, where two pictures rested. One was of his family, before his mother and sister died. The other was of the group. He, Yugi, Joey, Tristan, Tea, even Mokuba and Kaiba were in it. It had been taken before the yamis got their own bodies, and in it Ryou had a genuine smile on his face. He hadn't smiled like that in a long time.

"Vessel! I'm home!" Bakura yelled, drunkenly. Apparently he and Marik had stopped at a bar on the way home. Ryou ran out of his room and stopped in the living room, giving a very deep bow to Bakura. Bakura scowled and looked around. "Where's dinner?" he growled. Ryou paled. During Ryou's earlier beating, Bakura had said that he wanted dinner ready when he got home.

"I for… I forgot." Ryou said, stuttering slightly in his fear.

"Well, I'll have to teach you a lesson, then." Bakura said and got closer. Ryou could smell the alcohol on his dark's breath, and there was quite a bit of it. Bakura hit him square in the jaw, sending him reeling. He tripped over the coffee table and fell on his back. Bakura began ruthlessly kicking him.

"Please stop." Ryou said, curled into a tight ball, trying to protect himself.

"This. Will. Teach. You. To. Forget. What. I. Tell. You." Bakura said, kicking Ryou in the stomach between each word. Ryou finally passed out on the floor. When he saw this, Bakura stopped, shrugged, and went to his own bedroom. It was no fun torturing an unconscious person.

The next morning, Ryou awoke to find himself still on the floor in the living room, a bruise on his jaw where Bakura had hit him and numerous others on his torso, back, and stomach. He stood, wincing, and went into his bedroom to change for school.

First period at school was gym, which he had with only one other member of Yugi's group – Yami. Ever since the yamis had gotten their own bodies, Yugi had insisted that Yami come to school. At first Yami had been very confused about things, but after a while he had gotten the hang of it and was now one of the top people in their graduating class. Anyways, Ryou headed back into the back of the locker room to change and had just taken his shirt off when he heard a familiar voice.

"Ryou! You haven't been hanging out with us that much lately. How've you…" Yami trailed off as he turned the corner. He'd spotted Ryou and followed him, calling out to him when he was close enough. Ryou hurriedly tried to put his shirt back on, but Yami grabbed his wrist. "He's been doing it again, hasn't he?"

"No." Ryou lied.

"Follow me." Yami said and started off. When Ryou wouldn't follow, Yami grabbed his wrist and pulled him after him.

"Please Yami, you're only making things worse!" Ryou protested, hurriedly trying to get his shirt back on. He was unsuccessful since Yami had one of his arms, so a lot of that side was showing when he got his shirt on as well as he could. Yami, without even asking for a pass from the teacher, dragged Ryou right to the nurse's office.

"Where's your pass? The nurse asked when they arrived.

"Right here." Yami growled, then changed to a softer tone. "Ryou, take off your shirt." Ryou nodded and pulled his shirt off, revealing the many bruises.

"Oh my gosh!" the nurse said, worriedly. "Who's been doing this to you?"

"A bully." Ryou muttered. Yami narrowed his eyes slightly, but the nurse didn't notice.

"What's your name, dear?" she asked.

"Ryou Bakura." Ryou said softly. The nurse took out a box and looked through it, finding a contact form for Ryou and dialing his phone.

"Is your father home?"

"No."

"Then I'll just leave a message." The nurse muttered. "You can put your shirt back on, but I want to keep you here for the rest of the day, or until your father calls me back." Ryou put his shirt on as the nurse left a message on the answering machine. When she finished she turned to Yami. "You can go back to class. Thank you, you're a very good friend to have brought him here."

"Thank you ma'am." Yami muttered and left.

At the end of the day Ryou took the bus home to find a very angry and drunk Bakura.

"You told someone?!" he demanded, picking Ryou up by his shirt.

"No." Ryou said.

"Then how would they know?" Bakura asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Gym class we have to get undressed. Someone saw the bruises and took me to the nurse's office." Ryou was surprised at the lack of fear in his voice.

"Well, you'll be punished for your carelessness just the same." Bakura growled, throwing Ryou across the room. Ryou yelled as his head hit the side of the coffee table and stood, dizzy. Bakura came over to hit Ryou, but Ryou decided that enough was enough and he punched Bakura in the jaw with all his might. Bakura stumbled back and touched his face where Ryou punched him. He narrowed his eyes even further and punched and kicked Ryou over and over. Ryou finally collapsed. Bakura kicked him in the head one more time for good measure. Ryou's head jerked back with the force of the kick and hit the side of the coffee table with a loud crack.

Bakura stared at Ryou a second, watching him. Thinking Ryou dead, he took him through the shadow realm and dropped him off about three miles from the house.

The next day after school the whole group was out looking for him. It was Yami who eventually found Ryou in a dark alleyway, holding onto life by a very thin string. He was rushed to the hospital and the doctors announced that he was in a deep coma, and it would take years for him to wake up.

"You did the right thing, and you know it." Yugi was telling Yami the next day on the way to lunch. "It's just Bakura heard the message and took it badly."

"I should have know not to take Ryou to the nurse unless his father was in town." Yami scolded himself.

After school they went to visit Ryou. Yugi sat next to Ryou while Yami listened to the music on the radio that they'd brought with them. They had brought the radio in hopes that it would help Ryou's recovery, as it was tuned into Ryou's favorite station.

"This next song is titled "Hero" and it's by the group Superchick." The DJ announced. Yami recognized the title, it was a song that he knew both Ryou and Yugi liked, but he'd never actually listened to it.

_No one sits with him, he doesn't fit in but we feel like we do and we make fun of him._

_'Cause you want to belong do you go along 'cause his pain is the price paid for you to belong._

_It's not like you hate him or want him to die but maybe he goes home and thinks suicide._

_Or he comes back to school with a gun at his side and a kindness from you might have saved his life._

_Heroes are made when you make a choice._

_You could be a hero, heroes do what's right_

_You could be a hero, you might save a life_

_You could be a hero, you could join the fight_

_For what's right_

_For what's right_

_For what's right_

_No one talks to her, she feels so alone._

_She's in too much pain to survive on her own._

_The hurt she can't handle overflows to a knife._

_She writes on her arm, wants to give up her life._

_Each day she goes on is a day that she's brave._

_Fighting the lie that giving up is the way._

_Each moment of courage her own life she saves._

_When she throws the pills out, a hero is made._

_Heroes are made when you make a choice._

_You could be a hero, heroes do what's right_

_You could be a hero, you might save a life_

_You could be a hero, you could join the fight_

_For what's right_

_For what's right_

_For what's right_

_No one talks to him about how he lives._

_He thinks that the choices he makes are just his._

_He doesn't know he's a leader with the way he behaves,_

_And others will follow the choices he's made._

_He lives on the edge, he's old enough to decide._

_His brother who wants to be him is just nine._

_He can do what he wants, because it's his right._

_The choices he makes change a nine-year-old's life._

_Heroes are made when you make a choice._

_You could be a hero, heroes do what's right_

_You could be a hero, you might save a life_

_You could be a hero, you could join the fight_

_For what's right_

_For what's right_

_For what's right_

_Little Mikey D. was the one in class who every day I brutally harassed._

_This went on for years until he decided that never again would he shed another tear._

_So he walked through the door, grabbed a 4.4 out of his fathers dresser drawer and said "I cant take life no more."_

_And like that life can be lost._

_But this ain't even about that._

_All of us just sat back and watched it happen, thinking, "it's not my responsibility to solve a problem that isn't even about me."_

_This is our problem. _

_This is just one of the daily scenarios which we chose to close our eyes instead of doing the right thing._

_If we make a choice, and be the voice for those who won't speak up for themselves._

_How many lives will be saved, changed, and rearranged._

_Now it's our time to pick a side._

_So don't keep walking by, don't want to intervene 'cause you just wanna exist and never be seen._

_So let's wake up, change the world._

_Our time is now._

_You could be a hero, heroes do what's right. (our time is now)_

_You could be a hero, you could save a life.(our time is now)_

_You could be a hero, you could join the fight (our time is now)_

Yami licked his lips and told Yugi, "I'll be in the bathroom." Yugi nodded and he went into the bathroom and locked the door.

He came out a few minutes later, hiding something behind his back. He sat with it to the couch and waited.

When he and Yugi left, he waited a few minutes and set the thing he'd had behind his back on Ryou's nightstand. It was the Millennium Ring.

A few days passed before Bakura's body was found. It appeared like he had been mauled and mostly eaten by a giant bug. Most likely some kind of bug that ate men. Soon afterwards, Ryou woke up. When he found out about Bakura's death he glanced around the room, which was full of his friends, and Yami winked. Ryou smiled slightly at Yami, showing his gratitude. He was free. Free from his tormentor and free to hang out with whomever he wanted whenever he wanted, without having to worry about a harsh beating from Bakura. Yes, he would smile again.

* * *

* * *

Saiyan Jedi: Wow, that took a good hour to write, despite the shortness (five pages on my computer). I kept going back and rewriting things.

Dragon Child: the challenge my sister set out for SJ was to make a Ryou beat down fic with Bakura dying in the end, without Ryou dying. Of course it also had to be Bakura doing the beating.

Kageka: and she did it. Review please!

Saiyan Jedi: If I get enough reviews asking me, I may make this more than a one-shot, but I doubt anyone would want me to. Carpe diem!


End file.
